BackTwo poles of heights m and n are separated by a horizontal distance d. A rope is stretched from the top of one pole to the ground and then to the top of the other pole. Show that the configuration that requires the least amount of rope occurs when Θ₁ = Θ₂ (see figure). <IMAGE>
Cylinder and cones (Putnam Exam 1938) Right circular cones of height h and radius r are attached to each end of a right circular cylinder of height h and radius r, forming a double-pointed object. For a given surface area A, what are the dimensions r and h that maximize the volume of the object?
Rectangles in triangles Find the dimensions and area of the rectangle of maximum area that can be inscribed in the following figures.
d. An arbitrary triangle with a given area A (The result applies to any triangle, but first consider triangles for which all the angles are less than or equal to 90° .)
Cylinder in a cone A right circular cylinder is placed inside a cone of radius R and height H so that the base of the cylinder lies on the base of the cone.
b. Find the dimensions of the cylinder with maximum lateral surface area (area of the curved surface).
Another pen problem A rancher is building a horse pen on the corner of her property using 1000 ft of fencing. Because of the unusual shape of her property, the pen must be built in the shape of a trapezoid (see figure). <IMAGE>
b. Suppose there is already a fence along the side of the property opposite the side of length y. Find the lengths of the sides that maximize the area of the pen, using 1000 ft of fencing.
Crankshaft A crank of radius r rotates with an angular frequency w It is connected to a piston by a connecting rod of length L (see figure). The acceleration of the piston varies with the position of the crank according to the function <IMAGE>
a (Θ) = w²r (cos Θ + (r cos2Θ) / L) .
For fixed w , L, and r find the values of Θ, with 0 ≤ Θ ≤ 2π , for which the acceleration of the piston is a maximum and minimum.
Tree notch (Putnam Exam 1938, rephrased) A notch is cut in a cylindrical vertical tree trunk (see figure). The notch penetrates to the axis of the cylinder and is bounded by two half-planes that intersect on a diameter D of the tree. The angle between the two half-planes is Θ. Prove that for a given tree and fixed angle Θ, the volume of the notch is minimized by taking the bounding planes at equal angles to the horizontal plane that also passes through D.
Optimal popcorn box A small popcorn box is created from a 12" x 12" sheet of paperboard by first cutting out four shaded rectangles, each of length x and width x/2 (see figure). The remaining paperboard is folded along the solid lines to form a box. What dimensions of the box maximize the volume of the box? <IMAGE>
{Use of Tech } Minimizing sound intensity Two sound speakers are 100 m apart and one speaker is three times as loud as the other speaker. At what point on a line segment between the speakers is the sound intensity the weakest? (Hint: Sound intensity is directly proportional to the sound level and inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the sound source.)
Travel costs A simple model for travel costs involves the cost of gasoline and the cost of a driver. Specifically, assume gasoline costs $p/gallon and the vehicle gets g miles per gallon. Also assume the driver earns $w/hour.
b. At what speed does the gas mileage function have its maximum?
Optimization A right triangle has legs of length h and r and a hypotenuse of length 4 (see figure). It is revolved about the leg of length h to sweep out a right circular cone. What values of h and r maximize the volume of the cone? (Volume of a cone = (1/3) πr²h.) <IMAGE>
Maximum printable area A rectangular page in a text (with width x and length y) has an area of 98 in² , top and bottom margins set at 1 in, and left and right margins set at 1/2 in. The printable area of the page is the rectangle that lies within the margins. What are the dimensions of the page that maximize the printable area?
Maximum area A line segment of length 10 joins the points (0, p) and (q, 0) to form a triangle in the first quadrant. Find the values of p and q that maximize the area of the triangle.
Minimum painting surface A metal cistern in the shape of a right circular cylinder with volume V = 50 m³ needs to be painted each year to reduce corrosion. The paint is applied only to surfaces exposed to the elements (the outside cylinder wall and the circular top). Find the dimensions r and h of the cylinder that minimize the area of the painted surfaces.
The sum of two nonnegative numbers is 36. Find the numbers if
a. the difference of their square roots is to be as large as possible.
b. the sum of their square roots is to be as large as possible.